Seattle Mariners players as the “Avengers”

The Seattle Mariners’ ace Marco Gonzales is as accurate as Hawkeye of the Avengers

The Gonzaga University product had the best season of his career in 2020 and is trending in the right direction. When Gonzales first joined the Mariners after acquiring from the Cardinals via trade, he threw a 5.40 ERA in 10 games to finish 2017. In 2018, he threw a 4.00 ERA, and then a 3.99 ERA in 2019. And most recently, Gonzales posted an excellent 3.10 ERA in 11 starts. One of them being a complete game.

The left-handed starter will not blow batters away, but Gonzales is so precise with his pitches and knows how to maximize his skills. In 2020, Marco led the league in walks per nine innings. Gonzales walked 0.9 batters per nine innings which is incredible. With this metric, it is fair to compare Gonzales to Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye.

Jeremy Renner played Hawkeye in the Marvel Universe and he did not have any superpowers. Although Hawkeye did not have superpowers, his masterful skills made up for it. Clint Barton was an intelligent man with extreme arrow skills. He rarely missed his shot, just like Gonzales rarely missed the strike zone four times in an at-bat.

Gonzales is also very intelligent like Hawkeye and spends time learning about batters’ tendencies to help him carve the opponent. Gonzales is masterful in utilizing his cutter, changeup, and curveball just like Hawkeye can use his tool of arrows ranging from tasers, bombs, and poisons. I also feel like Clint Barton is an unsung hero amongst the Avengers and becomes more of a fan favorite as the story went on. Gonzales is another underrated player in the MLB that continues to improve after every season.

The Hawkeye example is great for Gonzales, but a Bob Ross comparison is right up there.